Ms Magdalen Rogers:

There certainly is a capacity issue with specialist neuro-rehabilitation beds for the type of neuro-rehabilitation provided by the National Rehabilitation Hospital, for example. We estimate that we only have half of the specialist neuro-rehabilitation beds that we need in the country. The majority of them are located in the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dún Laoghaire. Again, as part of the implementation plan for the neuro-rehabilitation strategy, it was envisaged that there would be neuro-rehabilitation units with a minimum of 20 beds all around the country, especially in the west and south, which are areas of huge need. However, we have not seen progress on implementing that strategy. When we appeared before the Joint Committee on Disability Matters, we highlighted that the neuro-rehabilitation implementation group did not meet at all in 2021 to progress the strategy.